1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating an optical component, and more particularly to a method of fabricating an optical transmission/reception module for use in optical CATV and optical communication fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the optical fiber transmission technology advances, various research activities are directed to optical CATV and optical communication systems which utilize the wide-band characteristics of the optical fibers. It is expected that there will be realized a Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) system which has optical fibers led to homes for starting various information services in the near future. For realizing a full-fledged FTTH system, it is necessary to reduce the size and cost of optical terminals connected to respective homes.
The FTTH system requires a bidirectional optical transmission mode which needs to be performed by an optical reception/transmission module comprising a light source for emitting an optical signal, a light-detecting element for converting the optical signal into an electric signal, and an optical coupler for transmitting light from the optical source and light to the light-detecting element to optical fibers that are used to transmit light.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings schematically shows a conventional optical reception/transmission module A. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical reception/transmission module A comprises a laser diode 1, a photodiode 2, and an optical coupler 3. The optical coupler 3 comprises two optical fibers 4, 5 fused together. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the length of the optical coupler 3. The optical coupler 3 and the laser diode 1, and the optical coupler 3 and the photodiode 2 are connected to each other by optical fibers through fused regions 6 thereof. Consequently, the optical reception/transmission module A is relatively long in its entirety. If a plurality of optical reception/transmission modules A are required, then since the individual optical reception/transmission modules A have to be arrayed horizontally or vertically, the space taken up by the optical reception/transmission modules A increases and the cost of the entire system also increases as the number of optical reception/transmission modules A increases.
As described above, inasmuch as the optical coupler 3 is composed of the two optical fibers 4, 5 fused together and the optical reception/transmission module A is made up of three components, i.e., the laser diode 1, the photodiode 2, and the optical coupler 3, the conventional optical reception/transmission module A has been problematic with respect to both the space occupied thereby and the cost thereof. In the case where the optical reception/transmission module A is incorporated in an on-demand access system of CATV, it is necessary to use many optical couplers 3 and optical reception/transmission modules A in a transmission terminal. Therefore, such an on-demand access system with the conventional optical couplers 3 and optical reception/transmission modules A takes up a large space and is expensive.